Data Center Construction Boom Driven by Healthcare and Technology

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite a weakened economy, data center industry experts predict strong continued growth and construction activity for the foreseeable future according to a new study by Mortenson Construction, a leading U.S. data center contractor. The expansion of mission critical facilities shows no signs of slowing and is being fueled by greater digitization of information and growth in cloud-based services and new devices. In its research, Mortenson spoke to data center and facilities professionals at the 7x24 Exchange Conference in Phoenix about their views on the state of the mission critical industry and the outlook for the future.

"We are excited to provide our findings to customers and business partners in the hope that they bring a deeper level of understanding regarding current mission critical industry and construction trends," said Steve Pekala, manager of market intelligence at Mortenson. "There is a lot of optimism for the future of data center construction. We believe it'll clearly be a major driver of activity for the next five years."

The Mortenson Construction Mission Critical Industry Study includes insights and perspectives regarding current investment plans of stakeholders, potential challenges to the data center boom, data center efficiency levels, the impact of new designs and technologies, and delivery methods.

Key insights include:

Healthcare and technology companies are two sectors are seen as having the greatest future need for data center capacity

Energy and cooling costs receive top consideration when making data center location decisions

83 percent of colocation provider respondents and 60 percent of corporate and public entity respondents will likely make mission critical investments in the next 12-24 months

Mortenson regularly conducts industry studies and market research in order to be in lockstep with its customers and partners, resulting in a construction experience that's second-to-none. Other recent Mortenson studies include solar energy, higher education, and healthcare.

Mortenson has completed more than 11 million square feet of mission critical construction and renovations nationwide. Eighty percent of its mission critical experience is with repeat customers.

About Mortenson Construction

Founded in 1954, Mortenson Construction is a U.S.-based, privately-held construction company. As one of the nation's top builders, Mortenson provides a complete range of services, including planning, program management, preconstruction, general contracting, construction management, design-build, and turn-key development.

Mortenson has offices in Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Seattle with international operations in Canada and China. For more information, visit mortenson.com.